Matthew Tully: Pence is looking gubernatorial, sounding pretty empty

Mar. 2, 2013

Indiana Governor Mike Pence speaks with Shawn Beason, left, at the Kokomo Transmission Plant, Kokomo, Feb. 28, 2013. Chrysler Group Chairman and CEO Sergio Marchionne announced 1,250 new jobs and a $162 million investment in a former transmission plant in Tipton during a press conference at the Kokomo Plant, Feb. 28, 2013. / D. Kevin Elliott / For The Star

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Gov. Mike Pence stood at a podium one morning last week and, while answering a question about the potential expansion of gambling in Indiana, offered a comment that seemed to perfectly sum up his governing strategy.

“My ambition,” the governor said, “is the status quo.”

He was talking about gambling, but he could have been talking about the Pence Era. It’s been two months since the former congressional star took over as the state’s chief executive, and since then he’s done nothing to suggest any ambition beyond serving as a safe, noncontroversial, uninspiring nice-guy caretaker — Evan Bayh, you might say, but with a smaller agenda.

Pence has kept a low, almost imperceptible profile during his first months in office, doing little to shape debate in the state legislature while doing just about anything he can to avoid touchy issues. For instance, when asked about a hotly debated legislative plan to rewrite the governance structure in Indianapolis, Pence sounded as if he hadn’t read a newspaper or caught a newcast in weeks.

“I haven't had an opportunity to review that legislation,” he said.

It’s hard to understand why he hasn’t had the time. After all, he hasn’t done much else since Inauguration Day. Well, other than repeatedly telling people he is “very disappointed” that his fellow Republicans in the legislature have so far rejected his call for a 10 percent cut in the state income tax rate. It appears he’s holding on so desperately to that ill-advised tax cut because he doesn’t have much else in his agenda.

Pence had called the media to his stately office Wednesday morning to update us on that agenda, which he has outlined in his “Roadmap for Indiana,” a fluffy campaign document that helped him earn all of 49 percent of the vote in a very good year for Indiana Republicans. In a release handed out at the start of Wednesday’s event, Pence’s team put red check marks next to proposals that have “moved forward” this year. In a sign of the low bar he has set for himself, there was a check mark next to his embattled tax cut, simply because he has proposed it.

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No need to worry, Pence said, insisting that Hoosiers across the state were in love with his agenda.

“The reception we've received from groups large and small,” he said, “has been very receptive.”

He hinted that he would soon be airing commercials to sell Hoosiers on the tax cut, which wouldn’t seem necessary if everyone was as enthusiastic about it as he repeatedly suggests. But, hey, a first-year governor needs a big win, and the Pence team seems increasingly worried that it’s not on the road toward one.

You have to say this about Pence, though. He plays the role of governor exceedingly well. During the press conference, he looked like a chief executive out of central casting, standing ramrod straight and with his hands firmly gripping the sides of the podium during his long opening monologue. He looked earnestly at reporters as they asked questions and then made the type of gestures they must teach at Governor School -- the firm finger tapping on the desk to make a specific point, for example, and the outstretched arms to make a broader one.

As always, he tossed out his top campaign talking points. He told us for roughly the millionth time that “job creation is job one” and, of course, he delivered his favorite line from the stump — promising to take Indiana “from good to great.” He delivered that one twice in the opening minutes of the news conference.

After all of six questions, Pence’s press secretary demanded an end to the questioning. But before she did, the governor argued once again that “the time has come to seize this moment” and pass his tax cut.

That’s up for debate. But one thing is clear: As of yet, Pence hasn’t seized the moment, or the opportunity, that the voters of Indiana have given him.